2 movies, 2 dads 2 bad - First off this weekend, we got a stay-at-home dad
(laid off cartoonist)
in Son of the Mask (it's
basically Mr Mom meets the Dancin Baby). Then next weekend we got Hollywood's
Mr. Macho himself, Vin Diesel taking care of the kids in The
Pacifier: Prepare for Bottle.
As you click on the official movie link,
you see Vin Diesel with his hands full and the Diesel in the background
muttering "you gotta be kidding me" Not a good start here. The
film is billed as the story of an undercover agent who, after failing to
protect an important government scientist, learns the man's family is in danger.
In an effort to redeem himself, he agrees to take care of the man's children
only to discover that child care is his toughest mission yet. What
is fascinating to me, is both movie posters are nearly identical in theme. Both
have dad in dead center with a baby (or two) in hand and mom standing on the
side. The message is clear, involved dads (or dads trying to be involved) are in
high gear and selling in Hollywood. It is encouraging to see the image of dad
with their kids featured, but I'll wait for the full reviews to see if we have
any improvement over Mr
Mom or Daddy
Daycare.

A
Chip off the old blog - I'd like to welcome daddychip
to the daddy blog block. He's a former stay-at-home dad who wishes he could
have stayed at home longer. It's refreshing to see a dad still sharing his
thoughts after his kids are in grade school. From reading his first posts
he's a good dad in my book. Check out his neat post
about the demise of his car. and his son's reaction to Mr Tow truck hauling it
away. These at-home-dad-car-posts have gotten my attention as I was busy
wrecking my Buick Lesabre last week in a harrowing accident with a semi.
The guy just pulled into
my lane (blind spot?) sending me spinning into an Escort which then hit a limo. (No
injuries). Funny though, I remember countless movies of people watching
the world go round when their car spins, but when I was whirling around, I can
just remember one moment in time looking directly into the oncoming cars headed
toward before a second back-side SMASH into the truck. The Buick probably saved
my life, If I had a SUV I would
have rolled over, If I had an escort I wouldn't be here. In any case my car was totaled
so I am in the hunt for a new car.. Sorry, I don't think I will be buying
athomedaddy's Escort
as I will
continue with a new Buick. (The Escort post should probably be posted in
athomedaddy's dark
side.)

We
all know at-home dad penguins can treat their wives like this
on a bad day,but
would
you believe they stand outside in sub-zero temps with no food for 65 days for
their
kids? TheNationalGeographicreports
that the penguin egg?s father balances it on his feet
and covers it with his brood pouch, a very warm layer of feathered skin designed
to keep the egg cozy. There the males stand, for about 65 days, through icy
temperatures, cruel winds, and blinding storms. And they eat nothing that whole
time. Due to this evidence, the
Northeast
Wisconsin At Home Dadsfeatures their new
hero on their site.

Reporter Anna
Krejci, of the Green Bay News Chronicle interviewed the Northeast
Wisconsin group leader Bruce
Cantrall and 2 other dads about the penguin while they
were corralling 6 kids at their local library. Bruce reports, We
were asked by the reporter if we do a "background check" on our
members. (We have an application
process on our web page before joining the email list or having anyone look at
photos). I do not expect a reporter would ask anyone from a Mom's group
that question. I asked the reporter if she had children or was married, she
said she was single with no kids . I suggested
that she could always become a work-at-home or away mom as a reporter
with a stay-at-home dad taking care of her children. Did she ever think of
that when looking at possible mates? No
was her answer. All
in all, the story bought in one more dad and Bruce notes that The
group feels it was a very positive article on the importance of dads in their
children's lives. They included 3 nice photos with the kids and the dads
doing things together

I
have been admiring Ben MacNeill's stunning graphics at the Trixie
Update over the past year. It should follow some of the "early" computer
art circa 1984. He ought to submit this
one or my favorite, the daily
feeding cycle (agitated) into the Museum of Modern Art. It should be
labeled informational minimalist art so we can get the next
art movement started. Ben's latest work of art at left breaks down the
famous "two naps to one" event. For those not in the know Ben
hits a certain keyboard key every time his daughter does nearly anything. (He
has smacked the F9 key three thousand five hundred and thirteen times due to
diaper changes). It was fun to check these stats, but the graphs didn't
seem to show the trends in the short
term. Over the long haul however, you can actually see the agonizingly
slow and uneven process of naptimes on his graphs. By taking the emotional
element out of the process, it's reassuring to any new dad to step back and see
Ben's visual proof that those diaper leaks, naps and bottle routines that seem
like they will never end always do.

I heard a knowing giggle
from my two boys as we were walking into the movie "Lemony
Snickets: A Series Of Unfortunate Events". They were covering their mouths,
trying to hold on to their secret. I looked down at them and nearly ran into their
inside joke. It was
a huge poster for the Meet the Fuckers
Fockers movie. I could read their minds. I have an excuse to say a near
swear word! Ok, hurray for Universal Studios for good
marketing, but that's not why I'm writing about the movie. Dustin Hoffman plays an at-home
dad in the flick. With the tonnage of reviews, what would the critics call
him? A Mr. Mom or a stay-at-home dad? The most widely distributed
movie reviews were from AP Movie Writer David Germain and Reuters reporter Sheri
Linden. Checking both sources, they decided to use the stay-at-home dad
term. The Boston Globe and the Chicago Tribune, (also widely syndicated)
followed suit. The only major reporter using Mr Mom so far was NewsDay's Gene
Seymour. It was refreshing to finally see an absence of the Michael
Keaton descriptor from the major news outlets. It could be an early
indicator that the media may lighten up a bit in next year Father's Day
articles. Below are the early results and links (more reviews will be out today
and into the weekend).

I'll do the dishes after I make this throw....Topic: celebrity dadsNew Page 3New Page 2

Hold
on kids! I'll be home in a sec.

Just a few weeks ago,
at-home dad Jamie Martin was playing football with his two kids at home. Having
been retired for a few years he got a phone call out of the blue from his previous boss, The St Louis Rams.
They were offering his old quarterback job back.With star
quarterback Marc
Bulger recovering from a bruised shoulder, and backup Chris Chandler
playing as if he had one, Martin got the nod to take the field last
Saturday after Chandler's poor 1st quarter play offered no choice. He
ended up completing 16 for 31 passes and gaining 188 yards but did lose
the game to Arizona Cardinals 31-7. The St Louis Dispatch reported
that Martin hadn't thrown a pass in an NFL game in two years, which, "is a
lot different than just tossing the ball around in the back yard." Looks
like Bulger will back next week and if he holds up, Martin ought to playing
football with the kids on a regular basis again after the season's
over.

Here's
an excellent Monday morning read
from Tom Chartier out of LewRockwell.com.
Tom played lead guitar in legendary Los Angeles punk band The Rotters for 26
years It's titled I am a Bum, and proves that this guy is the
ultra coolest at home dad of all.

Here's
an excerpt:

You
see I've managed to weasel my way into a couple of coveted situations and if
weaseling your way into things isn't The American Way I don't know what is.
First, I'm a house husband. My job is to hang out with my son. Oh sure, this
means I won't get the penthouse suite, a company limo and will never get to sit
with Wayne Gretzky in his luxury box at the Staples Center but I don't really
care. I will also never get to make underlings squirm in terror at the thought
of being told their services will no longer be required, but "say hello to
the wife and kids and don't forget the fruit basket on your way out." Oh
sure, it's a sacrifice but I am willing to make it. Oddly enough, unlike most of
the big Kahunas out there standing center-ring running the show, these things
don't give me any satisfaction. I don't even enjoy humiliating people, ruining
lives or squashing bugs. So I guess there's no point in me running for office
but...I don't care! And of course as Mr. Mom, I have to go to the store, do the
laundry, clean the house and cook dinner. So what? I go to the store and come
back with a heap of steaks, ribs, grillin' salmon flanks, corn on the cob,
charcoal, ice-cream bars and cases of beer. Real American men live for these
things. Do we ever let our wives even touch the BBQ? Hell no! That's our turf!
And, I do not come home with broccoli, cauliflower or meat loaf fixins! Yeah, I
gotta make the spawn do his homework but again so what? I don't sweat the small
stuff. Whadaya mean you didn't get it done?! Oh well, neither did I and I'm a
huge success. So let's go work on that balsa wood airplane kit and see if it
flies. I do what most American men fear in their worst nightmares breaking out
in a cold sweat, I take care of the house and kids! NO!!!! Well, let me tell
you, they don't know what they are missing. read
entire article